Past: Book One of the Marauder Trilogy
by Moonlight Daydreams
Summary: Our story begins with the start of the Marauder's 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James is pining after Lily, Remus is dating a Ravenclaw, and much to everyone's surprise Peter managed to successfully ask out a 1st year Hufflepuff.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer **(For the ENTIRE story)**: 

I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters nor am I J.K.Rowling or in any way affiliated with her or Warner Bros.

I do, however, own this plot and my OC's (just Samantha Halloway at the moment). Please, no plot or character stealing. Thank you!

Summary

Our story begins with the start of the Marauder's 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. James is pining after Lily, Remus is dating a Ravenclaw, and much to everyone's surprise Peter managed to successfully ask out a 1st year Hufflepuff. So who's left for Sirius? He's not very interested in the girls that follow him around and he's beginning to think he won't find someone, and then he meets the new girl. He wants her, but will she want him?

Prologue

Everyone knows and loves the Marauders, except the Slytherins of course. It's their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the most prestigious wizarding school in Britain. The year is 1975 and everyone is preparing for their OWL's (Ordinary Wizarding Levels).

The previous year the group informed Moony that they knew his little secret. He's a werewolf. So over the past four summers the gang worked on perfecting their animagi forms without telling him of their plan.

All in all, Moony, Padfoot, Prongs, and Wormtail all think this will be a pretty normal year. Well, as normal as it gets at Hogwarts. However, none of them expected to find a new fifth-year Slytherin who has some secrets of her own.

So prepare yourself to be plunged into the mad world of the Marauders and their friends as the learning at Hogwarts continues and the bonds of friendship are again and again...


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Sirius sighed with relief.

_'It's good to be back,'_ he thought.

The tall dark-haired boy hated his summers at home and was always happy when school started again. Brushing his hair out of his eyes he glanced at his friends and fellow Gyffindors. A boy about the same height as Sirius with messy dark brown hair was busy staring at his crush who was pointedly ignoring him.

_'When will James learn? Evans just isn't interested in him.'_

Sirius shook his head and glanced down the table at Lily Evans. She was a pretty girl, about 5'4", with long, wavy red hair cascading down her back. Her Prefect badge glimmered in the light as she fixed her eyes on the front of the Great Hall where this year's Sorting Ceremony was taking place. After a while though, Sirius noticed her taking tiny glances at James when she thought he wasn't looking.

_'Maybe James does have a chance with her. Hmm... I'll have to look into that later.'_

Shifting his gaze, Sirius found his attention focused on two of his friends sitting directly across from him and James. Peter Pettigrew was watching the Ceremony with rapt attention and muttering something about how small the first years looked to the sandy-haired boy next to him who was obviously not listening. Remus Lupin was staring into space at the ceiling of the Great Hall that was bewitched to look like the sky above it. Sirius knew why.

Remus was a werewolf. The full moon had ended two nights ago so the scratches were still fresh on his face. Dumbledore, the current headmaster, had requested the Remus come to Hogwarts a week earlier than his peers so that he wouldn't have to take the train in his condition and would be able to receive prompt medical care from Madame Pomfrey, the school's nurse, as soon as he returned to his human form.

Remus absentmindedly ran a hand through his jaw-length hair and turned his attention back to the table and the people around him. Catching Sirius' eye he grinned and pointed to the front of the Hall. There were two girls left to be sorted. One was tall and lanky for her age looked quite a bit nervous. The other was a short, innocent looking brunette.

"Karen Smith," Professor McGonagall called the brunette up to the stool where a tattered looking hat sat.

Karen picked it up and placed it on her head. The hat paused for a moment, whispered something only she could hear and paused again before shouting,

"Gryffindor!"

The entire table erupted into applause and cheers for the newest addition to their house.

"Ami Zanth," McGonagall said as the remaining girl approached the stool.

Ami had barely placed the hat on her head when it screamed,

"Hufflepuff!"

The Hufflepuffs cheered and quickly made a space for her in their midst.

"Finally, it's over. Now we can eat," James' voice brought Sirius and Remus out of their thoughts.

However, it had no such effect on Peter. The short, pudgy fifth year's mouth had fallen open as he stared at the Hufflepuff table in awe. Reaching over, Remus placed his hand under the boy's chin and pushed up, causing his jaw to snap shut and make Peter jump. James laughed good-naturedly when he saw this. Sirius raised an eyebrow before speaking,

"Got yourself a crush there, Peter?"

Peter could only nod because the Headmaster had abruptly stood and was now waiting for silence to fill the hall so he could speak. When everyone was quiet, he cleared his throat and began,

"First, I would like to welcome everyone to another year at Hogwarts. Second, Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to everyone, hence the name," Dumbledore said in his calm, stately voice. Shooting a glance at the table where the four Marauders sat, he continued, "He also wants to remind you that dung bombs, among other things are not allowed. For a complete list of prohibited items please check his office door. Next, in addition to the first-years, we have a new student joining us. Samantha Halloway is a fifth year Slytherin who has just transferred here. I trust that you will all do your best to makes her feel welcome. Head boy and girl this year are..."

Dumbledore went through the usual announcements, allowing people's thoughts to wander.

James looked around at the first-years at his table and remembered his first day at Hogwarts...

_James boarded the train, carrying his trunk. He headed towards the middle of the train hoping to find an empty compartment, or his friends, whichever came first._

_"James! Wait up, mate! Whatcha in such a rush for?"_

_The unruly-haired boy turned to see Sirius dashing towards him. He grinned and waited for his friend to catch up with him._

_"C'mon, let's go find an empty compartment," James said and headed off, not giving Sirius a chance to catch his breath._

_They went all the way to the end of the train without finding an empty compartment. They doubled back, this time Sirius was leading. He paused outside a compartment where a sandy-haired boy sitting alone and reading._

_"Oy! Sirius! What did you do with my bloody robes!" Regulus' voice tore through the air from a compartment down the hall._

_"Oh, bugger. I can't believe I forgot to pack them," Sirius muttered quietly, his voice dripping with sarcasm._

_"Sirius! Move! He'll come out here any second," James hissed, opening the compartment door and shoving his friend through it._

_Regulus Black, Sirius' brother, was, in James' opinion, a no-good, lazy, stuck-up git. He had made Sirius pack his trunk for him the night before. Sirius had purposefully left the his brother's robes out of the trunk and wrapped them in paper, while telling one of the house-elves to send it in the next day's mail. _

_When the boys quickly shuffled into the compartment and placed their trunks on the over hanging rack, the boy whose compartment they had invaded looked up at them questioningly._

_"You don't mind do you? We promise not to distract you or anything," James asked quietly, hoping the boy would let them stay._

_"Of course he doesn't mind, James!" Sirius exclaimed, somewhat taken aback by James' politeness. Then, catching sight of the reproachful look on his skinny friend's face, he turned back to the boy who they had interrupted. _

_Errr... you don't mind, do you? My brother'll kill us if we go back into the hall."_

_"I don't mind at all," came the answer._

_The boy then turned back to his book, James sat down next to him and Sirius stretched out across from them. After a few minutes of silence the boy shut his book and stared out the window at the scenery rushing by._

_"Watcha reading?" Sirius asked, leaning over and taking the book from the boy's hands, "The Marauders? Never heard of it. What's it about?"_

_"It's a muggle book, that's probably why you haven't heard of it. It's really popular at the moment. It's about a group of friends who go on a bunch of fun adventures. Stealing treasure, outsmarting bad guys... the usual." _

_At this, James piped in. "Sounds cool. What's your name? I'm James and that's Sirius. But you can't really expect him to live up to his name."_

_The last comment earned James a glare from Sirius that he ignored, and a grin from their new friend._

_"I'm Remus," he replied._

_After that the trio became inseparable and nicknamed themselves "The Marauder's." Later they let Peter join them, but James had never thought of him as a true Marauder. In his opinion, it started with three and would remain three until the day they died._

James was suddenly jerked backed to reality as Sirius kicked him under the table.

"Food's here, mate."


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

"'Bout time," James muttered before tucking in the delicious food that lined the table in front of him.

Somewhere between dinner and desert Remus asked, "So, what about the new girl?"

Peter didn't respond as he had already begun to stuff his mouth with treacle tarts, but the other two looked at him quizzically. Finally James answered.

"I dunno. I don't care," he replied as he too began to eat his fill of the sweets surrounding them.

"Yeah, she's a Slytherin. She's probably another stuck-up, rich, pureblood with a holier-than-thou attitude," Sirius put in.

Remus just shrugged and finished his desert so he could help Lily gather the first years. James and Sirius put the new girl at the back of their minds and headed off to bed. They fell asleep dreaming about all the possibilities for the year ahead of them.

"Oy! Moony! Wait up!" James called as he dashed through the halls.

"What did you just call me?" Remus snapped. That night would be a full moon so his temper was at its shortest.

"Chill man. We'll explain in class. Binns doesn't care if we talk anyways," Sirius whispered, ushering them through the door.

They chose their usual seats at the back of class, between Lily's group of giggling friends and a solitary Slytherin girl.

"So, since you've always been alone during full moons, we've agreed we wouldn't be very good friend if we allowed it to continue. We've decided to keep you company from now on," James whispered secretively.

"Bu-"

"Relax. We remembered that werewolves will attack people so we chose a different route," Sirius said, cutting off a shocked Remus.

"Over the past four summers we've studied. Yes, that's right, we studied. Don't give us that look. It's not such a far fetched idea," James pressed on. Spotting the look on the werewolf's face, he hastily added, "Well, ok. Maybe it is, but that's not the point. The point is we've agreed that the easiest way to help you is to become animagi. Sirius and I have it down so we can come with you this time."

"But that's illegal! I can't let you guys do it," Remus sputtered, shocked at the idea.

"Too late. It's been done," Sirius responded quickly in a happy, sing-song voice.

Remus sighed and nodded. He seemed to be lost in thought for a while before he quietly asked, "What about Peter?"

James and Sirius exchanged relieved looks at their friend's acceptance of their plan and carefully pondered how to answer the question about the fourth marauder. James came up with an answer first.

"Err... Peter had a few... umm... I suppose you could call them issues. He still hasn't quite got the hang of it yet..."

Upon hearing this Sirius snorted loudly, causing his companions and half the class to look at him.

"That wasn't a few James, that was more like a million," Sirius explained when he had regained control of his laughter and people had stopped staring and returned to their own conversations, "By the end of this summer he was able to get the ears, tail and whiskers, but he couldn't figure out how to make them go away... So it's best if he stays behind."

Remus chuckled and then questioned, "So what animals did you guys pick?"

"The animals pick us, not the other way around," James said, enjoying the rare chance to correct the bookworm, "I become a stag, Sirius turns into a big black dog, and Peter, well, we're still not quite sure but we think it's a rat or mouse because of the ears and tail. That's where the nicknames came from. You're 'Moony,' Sirius is 'Padfoot,' Peter is 'Wormtail,' and I'm 'Prongs.'"

"You know you guys didn't have to do this," Remus said quietly, "but I'm kinda glad you did."

"It's not a problem Moony," Padfoot addressed his best friend.

"It's what friends are for," Prongs added.

The ball rang and the trio headed down to the dungeons for Double Potions.

Two hours later, Sirius dashed out the door of the dungeons. He was supposed to grab the invisibility cloak from James' trunk and meet them under the beech tree. As he ran through the halls he collided with someone going the other way. Both fell and their books were scattered.

"Oh, I am so sorry. Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" a female voice asked, sounding concerned.

Sirius opened his grey eyes and found he was staring into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. The girl's shoulder-length blonde hair hung down and brushed against his cheek as she bent over him.

"I'm fine. You okay?" Sirius asked, altogether unsure of why he was doing so.

Normally he didn't care if someone was stupid enough not to be watching where they were going and bumped into him. The girl got up, looking relieved, and then began gathering her books and an oddly lumpy parcel from the floor. Sirius followed suit and stood up. Now he was able to get a good view of the girl who had crashed into him. She was short. Maybe 5' 3" compared to his 6'1". She her womanly curves showed through the school uniform and robes. The house colors caught his eye and he frowned.

"You must be the new Slytherin," he said, more to himself than to her.

The girl nodded looking crestfallen, "Yea, I am. And no, I am not okay, I hate it here."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. Seeing this, the blonde continued,

"Everyone is so prejudice against me because of the house I'm in. So people in other houses won't have anything to do with me. As for my house, they ignore me because I'm the 'new girl' and I get more attention from the teachers because of it. It totally sucks. I wish I was back home."

It was silent for a moment as the girl stared forlornly out the nearby window at the grounds below.

"You're lucky to have a home to go to. I have a house but it certainly isn't a home. My brother and mother have seen to that," Sirius spoke up, "As for no one in the other houses having anything to do with you; I'm talking to you now, aren't I?"

He smiled, then seeing he wasn't going to get an answer he said, "Besides, it's a habit for the rest of the school to ignore the Slytherins. A majority of them aren't worth the breath it would take to talk to them. Take my brother for instance, Regulus will do anything to bring people down to his level and put himself higher than them-"

"Regulus is you're brother!" the girl demanded, interrupting his train of thought. Sirius nodded, a little surprised at this outburst.

_'Well, that would explain the good looks. Purebloods are known for it,' _she thought, and then said quietly, "I suppose I better get going. You seemed like you were in a hurry,"

Before the Marauder could respond he heard Madame Pomfrey calling to her from the stairs down the hall.

"Samantha Halloway! What are you still doing here? You know very well that you should have left quite a while ago," the nurse scolded, as she descended the stairs with a corked bottle of clear liquid in her hand.

"Leave your things right there. I'll take them to your room for you. Here's the- Peeves! Give that back this instant!" Madame Pomfrey shouted as Peeves swooped down and took the bottle from her hands.

"Not until you ask politely," Peeves teased, floating just out of reach.

The two teens watched from down the hall as the nurse argued with Peeves and tried to get the bottle back, before Samantha spoke up.

"Peeves, may I please have that bottle?" she asked politely, hoping he would just give up and let her have it.

The poltergeist considered her for a second before nodding and raising it in the air.

"Only if you can catch it!" he yelled as he threw it at them and zoomed off.

Almost as if it were second nature, Sam sprinted down the hall and without thinking skidded to a stop and caught the bottle five seconds before it would have shattered on the stone floor.

"Thanks, Madame Pomfrey," she said, quickly pocketing it, "I'll get going right now. I promise."

Madame Pomfrey nodded and pointed her wand at the stack of books Samantha had been carrying. The books flew to her arms and the nurse headed up the stairs again. After watching her leave Samantha turned around, picked up her parcel and began to leave. She stopped when she heard Sirius say,

"That was a great catch. You should try out for the Slytherin quidditch team. Their seeker position is open. You'd be good at it. Anyways, it sounds like you have somewhere to go. I'll see you around, Samantha."

"Yeah, see ya Black."

Having said their goodbyes, they headed their separate ways, with Sirius waiting until she was out of sight before continuing on his mission.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Four: Quidditch Cup

On the day of the quidditch cup, the conditions were perfect; sunny and warm, with firm ground, for the ideal kick-off. The entire school was in high spirits, and betting each other on who would win. Though Slytherin had never beaten Gryffindor, they had really given them a run for their money this year.

As the Slytherin team trouped into the changing rooms, Regulus took his seeker aside.

"Sam, you need to catch the snitch today. I will not lose to my impudent little brother and his goody-two shoes Gryffindor friends," He lectured.

"Don't worry so much. I can handle it," Sam responded in a monotone voice. She had heard this lecture everyday before a match with the Slytherin's rivals.

Regulus shrugged and walked off, Sam watched him go before daring to glance across the empty field to the Gryffindor changing rooms. Sirius and his friends were talking outside. Remus and Peter departed, leaving Sirius and James lounging against the outside of the building. Sirius sensed something and glanced across the field, his eyes connected with Sam's for the briefest of seconds. Sam looked away first and hurriedly headed inside the tent.

"Prongsy, you're gonna have your work cut out for you this game," Sirius confided in the seeker.

"Yea, that girl sure is something when it comes to quidditch. But she's still just a Slytherin, the trophy is in the bag," Prongs replied.

"Dunno James, it could be harder than you think," Sirius insisted.

"James! Sirius! Get in here! It's time to go over the game plan!" the team captain called.

The stands were filled to the max with Hogwarts students, and as the teams took the field, the cheers were deafening. Professor Walker, the flight instructor and quidditch referee, instructed the captains to shake hands. The look in their eyes as they did so was dislike, pure and simple. The professor blew on her whistle and the players shot into the sky. Sam soared through the air, making sure to stay near enough to James to counter his moves, no matter which way he went.

James floated above the crowded stands, and watched the violent game unfold below him. Slytherin and Gryffindor games were never very nice, but this was utterly ridiculous. The beaters were missing the bludgers on purpose, only to almost hit a member of the opposing team.

Sam was keeping her eyes peeled for the snitch while listening to the scores taking place in the air under her. They had been playing for two hours and she was getting tired of sitting on her broom. The score was 300 to 130 in favor of Gryffindor and just when Gryffindor regained possession of the quaffle, Sam spotted the snitch. She dove; faster and faster, straight down.

James saw her dive and saw the snitch, hovering about 3 feet from the ground near the Ravenclaw's section of the stands. He dove at a slant, not gaining as much momentum but cutting off enough time to even everything out. Past the players he flew, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a Slytherin beater smash a bludger straight down towards him, he veered sharply to dodge it and quickly resumed his dive.

Sam saw the bludger coming for James, watched him dodge it, and all of a sudden it was coming for her. She flipped over to the underside of her broom, so that she could jump off easier if she had too. Leaning close to the handle she urged her broom to go faster. There was a loud _thunk_ behind her as the bludger hit the ground. Righting herself on the broom, Sam concentrated on getting the snitch. She and James were neck and neck, both flattened against their brooms for maximum speed. Five feet, three feet, two feet, both shot out a hand.

Everyone had paused to watch as both seekers quickly veered up and hovered above the crowds, side by side. There wasn't a sound as they waited to see who would raise their hand. Even the Gryffindor chaser had stopped, five feet from the goal post. If he had thrown it a hair sooner, it wouldn't have mattered who caught the snitch. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sam raised her hand in the air. Between her fingers glimmered a little ball of gold.

Oddly enough, after all the suspense, no one cheered. For in catching the snitch, Sam prevented Gryffindor from getting those ten points, but she also had tied the score. For the first time in Hogwarts' history, there had been a tie. As both teams descended to the field, Professor Walker and Headmaster Dumbledore, were deep in discussion about how to break the tie. Dumbledore approached the captains, who were warily eying each other, and whispered something to them.

The Gryffindor captain shrugged and nodded and rounded up his team into their changing room. However, the Slytherin captain hadn't taken it so well, Regulus stormed past his team, pausing only to grab Sam by her robes and drag her after him. He slammed her into the lockers of the changing room,

"Do you have any idea what you just did!" he raged, "You just cost us the cup! Now we have to share it with the Gryffindors!"

"Regulus, I tried my best. Potter would have gotten it anyways, if I had waited any longer. There wouldn't have even been a tie, Gryffindor would have won."

By this point, Regulus was too mad to say anything he merely stormed right back out of the changing rooms and up to his dorm. Sam sighed, there would be no party in the Slytherin house tonight, and only because it wasn't an outright win, but wasn't a tie better than a loss? Her teammates didn't speak to her, didn't even acknowledge the fact that she existed as they trouped inside. Sighing again, Sam marched back up to the castle. The Gryffindors had returned inside and the stands were empty and daunting, reminding her of just how lonesome she was.

A solitary tear slid down her cheek as she wished for the millionth time since her arrival that she was home again. Sam didn't notice the person watching her, until she turned around. Sirius had seen his brother drag her off the field and had waited to make sure she was alright.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, just a few small bruises. He wouldn't mortally injure his only chance at beating your team," Sam replied with a dry chuckle.

Sirius missed the humor in this, "You never know, he's unpredictable at best. You should watch your back for a little while."

Sam shifted her weight, and swung a leg over her broom, "That may be so, but I won't let him get any satisfaction from him thinking I'm afraid of him. I should be returning to my common room. The OWL's are less than a week away, and I should really study some more."

"Sam, wait. I... err... just wanted to say you did a good job today. And I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to, you could come to the Gryffindor party with me."

"As nice as that sounds Sirius, you know that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't mix. That's the way it's always been. So, you'll have to excuse me for declining you offer. Goodnight, Black." Sam responded and kicked off and into the air, flying towards the castle.

"Sirius," said a voice from the sidelines, "don't tell me the almighty Gryffindor god has bowed down and found interest in a girl, rather than waiting for one to come to him."

"What do you want, Evans?" Sirius barked, not in the mood for her mind games, "James is inside, I'm sure he'd be delighted to see you."

"Mr. Black. Do not take that tone with me. I merely wondered why you, of all people, would bother going after a girl, and a Slytherin girl, no less," Lily snapped back with the same attitude.

"What I do is none of your concern,"

"Oh, but it is. As a Prefect, I am required to report you if you do anything rash."

"Lay off, Evans," Sirius was starting to lose his temper.

"Fine, Fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted," Lily stepped closer to him, "Just remember, Black. There will be those who don't like this idea and will try to get in your way. But if you really like her, and genuinely care about her well being, don't be rash and just jump into this. I'm not saying don't go for her, I'm just saying, give it time."

Sirius watched, stunned as Lily turned to go back up to the castle. At the end of the quidditch pitch, she paused and turned back to him,

"Oh, and, Black? Will you tell James to watch how much he drinks? I, for one, am not up for cleaning the common room tonight."

Sirius chuckled, and nodded, before mounting his broom and flying to the party.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four: Quidditch Cup

On the day of the quidditch cup, the conditions were perfect; sunny and warm, with firm ground, for the ideal kick-off. The entire school was in high spirits, and betting each other on who would win. Though Slytherin had never beaten Gryffindor, they had really given them a run for their money this year.

As the Slytherin team trouped into the changing rooms, Regulus took his seeker aside.

"Sam, you need to catch the snitch today. I will not lose to my impudent little brother and his goody-two shoes Gryffindor friends," He lectured.

"Don't worry so much. I can handle it," Sam responded in a monotone voice. She had heard this lecture everyday before a match with the Slytherin's rivals.

Regulus shrugged and walked off, Sam watched him go before daring to glance across the empty field to the Gryffindor changing rooms. Sirius and his friends were talking outside. Remus and Peter departed, leaving Sirius and James lounging against the outside of the building. Sirius sensed something and glanced across the field, his eyes connected with Sam's for the briefest of seconds. Sam looked away first and hurriedly headed inside the tent.

"Prongsy, you're gonna have your work cut out for you this game," Sirius confided in the seeker.

"Yea, that girl sure is something when it comes to quidditch. But she's still just a Slytherin, the trophy is in the bag," Prongs replied.

"Dunno James, it could be harder than you think," Sirius insisted.

"James! Sirius! Get in here! It's time to go over the game plan!" the team captain called.

The stands were filled to the max with Hogwarts students, and as the teams took the field, the cheers were deafening. Professor Walker, the flight instructor and quidditch referee, instructed the captains to shake hands. The look in their eyes as they did so was dislike, pure and simple. The professor blew on her whistle and the players shot into the sky. Sam soared through the air, making sure to stay near enough to James to counter his moves, no matter which way he went.

James floated above the crowded stands, and watched the violent game unfold below him. Slytherin and Gryffindor games were never very nice, but this was utterly ridiculous. The beaters were missing the bludgers on purpose, only to almost hit a member of the opposing team.

Sam was keeping her eyes peeled for the snitch while listening to the scores taking place in the air under her. They had been playing for two hours and she was getting tired of sitting on her broom. The score was 300 to 130 in favor of Gryffindor and just when Gryffindor regained possession of the quaffle, Sam spotted the snitch. She dove; faster and faster, straight down.

James saw her dive and saw the snitch, hovering about 3 feet from the ground near the Ravenclaw's section of the stands. He dove at a slant, not gaining as much momentum but cutting off enough time to even everything out. Past the players he flew, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a Slytherin beater smash a bludger straight down towards him, he veered sharply to dodge it and quickly resumed his dive.

Sam saw the bludger coming for James, watched him dodge it, and all of a sudden it was coming for her. She flipped over to the underside of her broom, so that she could jump off easier if she had too. Leaning close to the handle she urged her broom to go faster. There was a loud _thunk_ behind her as the bludger hit the ground. Righting herself on the broom, Sam concentrated on getting the snitch. She and James were neck and neck, both flattened against their brooms for maximum speed. Five feet, three feet, two feet, both shot out a hand.

Everyone had paused to watch as both seekers quickly veered up and hovered above the crowds, side by side. There wasn't a sound as they waited to see who would raise their hand. Even the Gryffindor chaser had stopped, five feet from the goal post. If he had thrown it a hair sooner, it wouldn't have mattered who caught the snitch. Slowly, ever so slowly, Sam raised her hand in the air. Between her fingers glimmered a little ball of gold.

Oddly enough, after all the suspense, no one cheered. For in catching the snitch, Sam prevented Gryffindor from getting those ten points, but she also had tied the score. For the first time in Hogwarts' history, there had been a tie. As both teams descended to the field, Professor Walker and Headmaster Dumbledore, were deep in discussion about how to break the tie. Dumbledore approached the captains, who were warily eying each other, and whispered something to them.

The Gryffindor captain shrugged and nodded and rounded up his team into their changing room. However, the Slytherin captain hadn't taken it so well, Regulus stormed past his team, pausing only to grab Sam by her robes and drag her after him. He slammed her into the lockers of the changing room,

"Do you have any idea what you just did!" he raged, "You just cost us the cup! Now we have to share it with the Gryffindors!"

"Regulus, I tried my best. Potter would have gotten it anyways, if I had waited any longer. There wouldn't have even been a tie, Gryffindor would have won."

By this point, Regulus was too mad to say anything he merely stormed right back out of the changing rooms and up to his dorm. Sam sighed, there would be no party in the Slytherin house tonight, and only because it wasn't an outright win, but wasn't a tie better than a loss? Her teammates didn't speak to her, didn't even acknowledge the fact that she existed as they trouped inside. Sighing again, Sam marched back up to the castle. The Gryffindors had returned inside and the stands were empty and daunting, reminding her of just how lonesome she was.

A solitary tear slid down her cheek as she wished for the millionth time since her arrival that she was home again. Sam didn't notice the person watching her, until she turned around. Sirius had seen his brother drag her off the field and had waited to make sure she was alright.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"No, just a few small bruises. He wouldn't mortally injure his only chance at beating your team," Sam replied with a dry chuckle.

Sirius missed the humor in this, "You never know, he's unpredictable at best. You should watch your back for a little while."

Sam shifted her weight, and swung a leg over her broom, "That may be so, but I won't let him get any satisfaction from him thinking I'm afraid of him. I should be returning to my common room. The OWL's are less than a week away, and I should really study some more."

"Sam, wait. I... err... just wanted to say you did a good job today. And I wanted to know if maybe you wanted to, you could come to the Gryffindor party with me."

"As nice as that sounds Sirius, you know that Gryffindors and Slytherins don't mix. That's the way it's always been. So, you'll have to excuse me for declining you offer. Goodnight, Black." Sam responded and kicked off and into the air, flying towards the castle.

"Sirius," said a voice from the sidelines, "don't tell me the almighty Gryffindor god has bowed down and found interest in a girl, rather than waiting for one to come to him."

"What do you want, Evans?" Sirius barked, not in the mood for her mind games, "James is inside, I'm sure he'd be delighted to see you."

"Mr. Black. Do not take that tone with me. I merely wondered why you, of all people, would bother going after a girl, and a Slytherin girl, no less," Lily snapped back with the same attitude.

"What I do is none of your concern,"

"Oh, but it is. As a Prefect, I am required to report you if you do anything rash."

"Lay off, Evans," Sirius was starting to lose his temper.

"Fine, Fine. I can tell when I'm not wanted," Lily stepped closer to him, "Just remember, Black. There will be those who don't like this idea and will try to get in your way. But if you really like her, and genuinely care about her well being, don't be rash and just jump into this. I'm not saying don't go for her, I'm just saying, give it time."

Sirius watched, stunned as Lily turned to go back up to the castle. At the end of the quidditch pitch, she paused and turned back to him,

"Oh, and, Black? Will you tell James to watch how much he drinks? I, for one, am not up for cleaning the common room tonight."

Sirius chuckled, and nodded, before mounting his broom and flying to the party.


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Sam woke as the sun began to streak into the dorm room. She yawned and contemplated going back to sleep, as she had only gone to bed three hours earlier. Shaking her head, she got up and gathered her things for the day.

At breakfast the fifth year students were more active than they had been for the past two weeks. There were four O.W.L. tests left. Sam smiled; these last ones were her best subjects. Defense Against the Dark Arts practical in the morning and the written in the afternoon. Tomorrow were her Transfiguration tests.

"Five for minutes," Professor Flitwick called.

Sam put down her quill and reread her answers. Happily, she put down her parchment and stretched, glancing around the room as she did so. The boy named Snape was still writing, but Sam shrugged it off. His score was none of her concern. She was certain she would get an 'O' and that's all that mattered to her.

James Potter turned in his seat and glanced at Sirius. Padfoot leaned the chair onto two legs, relaxed, and gave Prongs a thumbs-up. Sam glanced at the girl next to her who was plainly checking out Sirius. Sam shook her head in disgust.

'What's so great about him anyways?' she thought, 'Most of the girls here are head-over-heels for him or one of his friends. Speaking of his friends, why does this one have to sit right next to me?'

Glancing at the boy on her right, Remus, wasn't it? She watched him fiddle with his quill as he looked over his answers. Sam smirked to herself.

"Quills down please," the short Charms teacher said.

Parchments zoomed at him, knocking him over. Two Hufflepuffs near the front helped him up. Students poured onto the grounds. Younger students were still in class, giving the older ones space to study for their last tests.

Sam hung back a bit while people filed out, she never did care for big crowds. Then darting back to the common room she dropped off her books.

'No sense in studying when you've memorized the book,' she reasoned.

Sam was itching to get outside and walk by the lake. As she neared the door she saw a larger group gathered by the beech tree near the lake. Drawing closer, she was able to see and hear what was going on. Snape was on the ground, stiff and foaming at the mouth with pink bubbles. Sam was shoved aside, roughly, and barely had time to register the name of the girl with bright red hair.

"Leave him ALONE!" she yelled.

James Potter, resident troublemaker, let his voice drop to a more 'mature' tone, "All right, Evans?"

Sam noticed people starting to leave the gathering, obviously looking to avoid trouble. She knew she too should leave, but couldn't bring herself to abandon the poor boy that was being so cruelly tortured.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it were a choice between you and the giant squid," Lily Evans responded.

Sirius shrugged internally, 'Guess I was imagining things at the beginning of the year then.'

Out loud he said, "Bad luck Prongs," then, turning to face their prey, he noticed Snape had grabbed his wand, "OY!"

WHOOSH! A flash of light flew past James' face and sliced his cheek. Moments later Severus was upside down in the air. A few in the crowd around Sam cheered.

"Let him down!" Evans said, getting frustrated.

FWUMP! Snape hit the ground and was just barely regained his balance when,

"Locomotor Mortis!" Sirius' voice rang out, and Snape fell over again.

Lily whipped her wand out and Sam subtly slipped her own into her hand and gripped it tightly. The boys eyed Lily's wand with some nervousness. Lily was one of the best students in the year when it came to charms and hexes. Sam tuned out the conversation to assess the situation a bit better, but her attention was drawn back when she heard Severus say,

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Sam winced, 'Bad move, very bad move.'

James was beside himself, "Apologize to Evans!"

'This isn't going well at all. Oh bother, there goes her rant. Why isn't Remus doing anything? Why is he just sitting there like nothing is happening?' Sam wondered, twitching with annoyance.

"... You make me SICK," Lily screamed as she stormed off.

"Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"

She totally ignored him and kept walking.

'And then there was one, I guess stopping this madness is up to me, now. And I was really hoping I wouldn't have to get involved...'

She glanced up at the group in time to see Snape whisked off the ground again.

"Who wants to see me take of Snivelly's pants?"

Sam had had enough and stepped forward, "Sirius Black, I cannot believe you!"

Everyone turned to look at her, even Remus glanced up. Sirius himself, bore a look of mild surprise but quickly replaced it with the look of a cool smirk, amusement danced in his eyes.

"Well, well, if it isn't Miss Halloway. What can I do for you, love?"

"Firstly, you can stop calling me 'love'. I am certainly not yours, nor do I wish to be. Second, you can let Severus go."

"Oy, Padfoot, I think she likes Snivelly better than you," Peter piped up.

"Stuff it, Wormtail," Sirius replied, shooting him a glare. Turning to Sam, he added in his most civil tone, "Miss Halloway, you'll excuse me if I refuse your request. You see, this is a tradition of sorts, and -"

Sam didn't even give him time to finish, "You think you're better than him, don't you?"

"Well, of course. But -"

"Here's a little news flash for you then, Black. You're no better than he is. Neither is Potter."

James, who had been watching the little tiff and brooding, stiffened slightly at the mention of his name.

"Neither is anyone at this bloody school for that matter. These stupid house rivalries are ridiculous! No one is better than anyone else! Least of all your little gang, Black. What is it you call yourselves? 'The Marauders'? Well, guess what? You lot are probably the lowest there is. Terrorizing people you don't like, overwhelming them by numbers and brute force. Evans was right, you really are sickening."

Sam paused for a breath and continued, rounding on someone else. "And you, Lupin, you may not be doing anything at the moment but you're just as bad as them, if not worse. Its one thing to be a gutless bully, but it's worse to be a spineless bystander. You're smart, Lupin, you know this is wrong, but you still sit there, pretending to read and act like nothing is happening! Some Prefect! If I were headmistress I'd revoke your badge right now. Luckily for you, I'm not."

Sam, having said her piece, fell silent and glared at the stunned look of those around her. Sirius quickly regained his composure. Having no leverage on Sam, he rounded on Severus, who he had set back on the ground, though he was still immobile.

"Accepting help from her are we? Is she 'pure' enough for you?"

"I don't need help from anyone," Severus muttered, though obviously in a position that would state the contrary.

No one moved when Sam marched right up to Sirius and slapped him across his face.

"Don't change the subject when I'm speaking to you Sirius Black."

While he looked stunned, and James suppressed a small chuckle, Sam undid the magical binds that held Severus and watched him head quickly back to the castle. All that were left in the area were the Marauders and Sam.

"What did he ever do to you, for you to be so mean to him?" Sam asked softly, watching him go.

"Well, he's an annoying know-it-all who never bathes and-"

Still speaking softly, Sam cut him off, "So you have no real reason then…"

The words hung in the air as Sirius struggled to find a reason that would convince this girl that what he was doing was okay and to fill in this tiny, but steadily growing gap of doubt that had formed in him.

"You had no reason to slap me you know. I was merely pointing out the truth, Slytherins, are only pure bloods and only accept help from purebloods."

Sam's eyes blazed as she slapped him again, "You were reminding me again, just how mismatched I am with this school. I don't belong in Slytherin, yet it fits me so perfectly. I will never be able to fit in and you have to keep rubbing that in don't you?"

"Why are you so upset? I mean Snivels had no right to accept your help and not Lily's. Just because you're a pure-blood-"

Smack! "What gives you the right to assume I'm a pure-blood! Just because that's my house standard! You really are unbelievable, Black! I thought I just told you that you needed to get over your version of what's right and wrong!"

Sam began to quickly walk away. Sirius called after her several times, but she just kept walking towards the castle and soon disappeared indoors. Sirius cursed under his breath and James came to stand by him.

Putting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder he said, "'S'alright Padfoot. You win some, you lose some. And from the looks of it we both lost pretty big today. At least you can avoid your triggers. I get nothing but ice every time I so much as lay a finger on Snivelly. If you don't bring up bloodlines you should be back on top in no time."

Remus came closer, to add his advice, though not nearly so pleasant, "You might want to lay off Snivelly for a while, though. She seemed pretty upset about that, too."

That said, the Marauders headed inside to grab the invisibility cloak and then off to Hogshead to sneak a few butterbeers before bed.

Sam slunk into the first classroom she came across, assuming it to be empty and needing a little quiet time to sort out her thoughts. She jumped when she saw who was in the room with her; Severus jumped too.

Sam brought it up first, "I'm sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to intervene but I couldn't stand around and let Sirius mistreat someone."

"Black tends to do that, whether you want him to or not. But… thank you, none the less. You're the first person to ever stand up for me."

These words surprised Sam. Surely his own family cared enough to stand up for him, but no, based on the bitter honesty in his voice and the downcast look on his face, not even they, related to him by blood, had ever stood up for him. If that was the case, Sam suspected he had never had a real friend in his life.

"May I ask why you did it?" Severus posed the question quietly, and Sam barely caught it.

She answered just as quietly, still leaning in the doorway, "I know what you're thinking. You think I did it out of pity. Or out of the need to stand by people in my house. But you're wrong. I did it because it was the right thing to do, and mostly, I did it because that's what friends are for. That's what they do; they look out for each other."

"But we're not-" Severus started.

"It's what friend's do, Severus, that's all there is to it," as she said this, Sam glided out the door and up to her dorm room, not even giving Severus another chance at voicing his protests at the friendship.

5


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Sam rose earlier than her dorm-mates, none of whom seemed to ever be able to rise until just before breakfast. Having packed the night before she didn't have much to do except slip her small stack of parchment, a quill and ink and the novel she had been reading as she had fallen asleep into her day-pack for the ride back to London. Having no pets to tend to, she simply decided to nip into the kitchens for a light breakfast and then head to the library until it was time to leave.

Sirius was feeling miserable. Sam had avoided him all week and wasn't even showing up to breakfast these days.

'She must have found the kitchens,' he thought.

As he boarded the train, he caught a brief glimpse of her and an idea popped into his head.

'Of course!' he thought, grinning to himself, 'She can't avoid me if she's in a compartment!'

"Oy! Mate, you have to keep moving, the rest of us would like to get a good compartment away from the Slytherins and the first-years!" James reminded Sirius with a nudge.

The second the train was moving away from Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade, Sam changed out of her uniform and into muggle-wear. She stuffed her robes unceremoniously into her trunk as a door opened behind her. A calm cool voice spoke.

"Done avoiding me, then?" Sirius asked, in a voice that would suggest he didn't care, though they both knew it to be quite the opposite.

"I can hardly avoid you when you seek me out, Sirius. And, besides, I was here first and thus, have no reason to leave."

"Oh good then! You won't mind if my friends join us."

As if on queue, the Marauders trooped into the compartment. They all sat and began chatting, cheerily, mostly of their latest exploits against the Slytherins, obviously forgetting Sam's house. Remus and James pretended to notice nothing when Sam rose and, rolling her eyes, stalked out of the compartment in search of peace.

She found it, not surprisingly, in the form of a compartment that was empty, save one person, Severus Snape. Sam slid open the door and plopped herself very ungracefully into a seat and, stretching her legs out, she reached into her bag and began reading her novel. Severus stared at her for a moment, and realized she wouldn't be a problem when it came to some much needed peace and quiet, so he left her alone. As the train began to slow down, Sam rose to return to her original compartment.

On her way out the door, she paused and said, "See you in the fall, Severus."

Sirius looked up as Sam returned to the compartment. He didn't ask where she had been though he was dying to know. He smiled to himself as he stared out the window, thinking of the surprise she would get when she got home. Speaking of which, where did she even live?

"So are you happy to be going home?" he asked, nonchalant.

"Yes, very much so, I've missed it," Sam replied, smiling at the memory of her destination, "What about you?"

"I'd rather be spending the next two months doing remedial potions with Professor Zekial than going home," Sirius said, obviously disgusted at either thought.

"Oh," There was a small, awkward pause then, "Still, it must be nice to live in London, so close to Diagon Alley and all."

"I suppose it is," It was then that Sirius stole his chance, "Why do you say that? Where do you live?"

"Outside of Manchester, so I'll have to take a muggle train to get there after this. I was just thinking how nice it would be to not have to take two trains just to get _near_ home. After that, I have to fly the rest of the way. That reminds me…"

Sam opened her trunk, just enough to take out her broom.

"What's this?" She asked as she pulled out a small parcel, "I don't remember putting that in there, but I guess I must have. I did pack kinda late last night."

James and Remus hid sniggers, while Sirius tried to look innocent. Wormtail opened his mouth to say something, but Sirius stamped on his foot and then reprimanded him for running into the bench and stubbing his toe. This caused James and Remus to snigger even more, while Sam shook her head. She set the broom down, minimized it and then did the same with her trunk. She then put both of these objects in her day-pack for easy access.

When the train stopped, everyone filed out, leaving Sam and Sirius to have a little "alone time" as James and Remus kept calling it, still sniggering behind their hands like little school-girls. Sam rolled her eyes again and Sirius acquired a very light, barely noticeable pink tint.

Sam broke the silence first, "Listen, Sirius, I'm sorry about snapping on you like that. I just get a little touchy when people pick on others and I get even touchier when people mention blood Purity."

"That's because you're not Pure, are you?" Sirius said it quietly, in a factual tone, not really expecting an answer.

"No, I'm not," Sam's voice shook a little as she said it and Sirius detected a note of sadness, well hidden, in it.

"What are you, then?" he began; only to realize what he was saying, "I mean, it doesn't matter, really. I just was kinda curious is all…" he trailed off.

"Its fine, Sirius, but I think I'll save that story for another day. Well, I have to go catch another train, but I'll see you next fall. Bye, Black!"

Sam bounced out the door, and began the trek home. Meanwhile, Sirius and his friends went for a quick stop at the Leaky Cauldron before heading to their separate houses.

Sam soared softly onto her balcony which had been graciously left open for her. Touching down, she quickly crossed the room to her bed and dumped her belongings onto her bed. Rummaging through them she found what she had been looking for, her trunk, and fired the counter spell at it, returning it to its original size. Once it was back into place at the foot of her bed, she flipped the lid open and grabbed the parcel on top.

Truth be told, she had known it hadn't been there before hand and she strongly suspected Sirius had placed it in there. Her curiosity got the best of her, as it rarely did and she ripped into it. Inside she found a letter and a smaller, wrapped package. Placing the small package aside she splayed out onto her bed, next to her carelessly dumped belongings and began to read. She smiled as she did so.

"Dear Sam," it read, "I'm sorry for opening your trunk to put this into it. I know it was over-stepping my bounds but I didn't think I'd get a chance to give it to you otherwise. Just for the record though, I didn't go through your things (Remus wouldn't let me, just kidding!). Basically, I just wanted to apologize, but I'm not too good with words, hence the letter. Still words, but I get a chance to revise it, at least. I wanted to apologize for my brother, he's not the nicest person in the world, and in all honesty, I hate him. If he ever does anything to you though, let me know and I'll have a little 'chat' with him about it. Second, I want to apologize for me. I know I don't think before I act or speak nearly as much as I should, but I'm usually too busy having fun with life to do so. I didn't mean to get on your case about blood Purity or any of the other things, I just- I don't know; it's hard to explain. But if you ever want to talk about anything, send me an owl. I'd give you my address but I probably will be leaving my house fairly early this summer, and I might move in with James. It depends on my family situation. But an owl should be able to find me anyways. I hope you enjoy what's in the parcel, and accept it as an apology of sorts. Have a good summer! –Sirius Black"

Setting the letter carefully in the drawer of her bedside table, Sam turned to the parcel. She carefully untied the twine that bound it. When she opened it she was shocked to see a small golden ball shoot out and flutter around the room, checking its new surroundings. Sam reached out and caught the Snitch and wrapped it carefully in a velvet scarf she had lying around before setting that aside. She tugged out the note that had been half-hidden beneath it.

"Sam, I know what you're thinking, and no, I didn't knick the Snitch, James did. But he said I should give it to you so you don't get out of practice. (Apparently he has more at home, go figure, eh?) The school has tons of them, so don't worry about it, and besides, it'll give you something to do this summer, consider it a gift from all of the Marauders to you Oh, and the necklace is for you too, if you read the note you'll know it's my way of apologizing. I've never actually seen you wear jewelry but it stuck me as something you'd like anyway. Have a good summer, Sam! –Sirius"

As Sam finished reading the note, she discovered that a necklace had materialized in the packaging in front of her. The light in the room glistened off the warm-looking gold. Peering closer Sam was astonished to see that the simple golden chain held a small charm in the shape of a snitch. The charm was intricately carved with the swirl pattern of the ball and the wings almost seemed to flutter. On the back of the charm Sam found an 'S' and an 'H' intertwined around each other. She was touched that he had gone to so much trouble just to apologize. Putting the necklace on, she cleaned up her belongings and went off in search of her family.

4


End file.
